Tag Archives: updates

Mobile Partner Spotlight: HeyWire

As the world of messaging apps continue to grow, many are looking to innovate and add new features to keep them ahead of the trend. Today, we are excited to announce our latest partnership with HeyWire, a free messaging app for users all over the world!

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With over 5 million downloads, they continue to grow and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. Don’t have a phone number? No problem. Heywire gives you a  free,real US phone number for texting your friends and family. You can also text them from the web by logging in at heywire.com with your HeyWire number. Here are 10 other reasons why HeyWire is the messaging app for you.

Their latest update on both iOS and Android includes Aviary’s embeddable and customizable mobile editor! Users on both platforms now have the ability to instantly add a creative touch to their photos using our Effects, Stickers, Meme Tool, Draw tool, and more.

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They’ve also enabled our White-Label Premium Add-On, which removes the Aviary branding to make the overall experience completely seamless. You can learn more about our Premium Add-ons here, or if you’d like to add them to your own app, feel free to give us a shout!

Download HeyWire and check out the new Aviary editor here:

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Behind the Filters: Toy Camera

A loud crank causes chairs to swivel at the other end of the office. Most people have gone years if not decades since they last heard the winding of film in a toy camera.

“Could you maybe do that outside?”

No. It’s winter in New York and I’m about to spend some time with these relics in the bitter cold. Relics may actually be a bit of a stretch. While the original Holga 120N was created in Hong Kong in the 80′s, the plastic box in front of me was built far more recently. These cameras were acquired to aid Aviary in the creation of the toy camera effects pack.

Light leaks, double exposures, vignettes, and blurs, all things to be avoided in photography, are embraced and loved in the world of lomography. The inconsistencies of toy cameras are what make it so popular. Inside that little plastic package is a controlled chaos, a visual euphoria, an honest, unique, imperfect memory unadulterated by photoshop and it’s adjustments.

And I achieved none of it.

toycameraphotos Photos by Andrew Rudmann | Instagram

Well that’s not entirely true. Absent are the dramatic glows of red and orange light leaks, in their place; vignettes, tilt-shifts, and natural imperfections. How could this have happened? I read the manual, I wound the film, I wore my tightest jeans and grew a mustache but all I wound up with were some decent photos and a flat tire on my fixie.

“Frankly, your cameras are probably too new. Beat the s*** out of them. Take them to the bar and get ‘em drunk,” says Katie Warren, New York Times featured photographer and founder of the critically acclaimed style photography blog GoKateShoot.com. Warren shoots with a modified Holga, placing duct tape along the sides and bottom of her camera to minimize leaks. The insides have been gutted, altered from their factory standards in an effort to promote the creation of yet to be discovered ideas. The results are astounding.

katies Photos by Katie Warren | Instagram

This was it. These were the ideas and visuals that we wanted to capture in our effects pack.

“I really like that lack of control. You can’t predict what will happen which is the opposite of my client based work. There’s a hyperbolic sense of color and the story telling in that medium is more intimate,” says Warren. But how do you capture those ideas in one touch photo effects?

We wanted to create something a little more unique than our previous effects. This pack had to have some punch and energy that your typical vintage styles lack. We also couldn’t complicate the effects process by creating a double exposure with the importing of other photos. What we could do was create unique light leaks and glares in a plethora of colors and couple them with heavy vignettes.

And so we did.

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Combining layers of gaussian flares, blurs, and shapes we built six fantastic toy camera styled effects. They each exhibit different ideas that we encountered in our research and exploration.

The pack as a whole was designed to conquer any scenario you could find yourself in. The range of effects is vast, with different colors presenting and exaggerating themselves in each filter. ‘Valley’ calls upon the cooler days of the year by pushing the envelope of blues in the photo. There’s a subtle overlay vignette that wraps your subject and rather than darkening the borders with pure black, darkens the colors of your photo. By doing it this way were able to effectively make dynamic effects, altering the colors of your photo in different directions, exaggerating them, rather than muddying them up with forced colors.

‘Caroline’ finds itself at the subtler end of the toy camera spectrum. It calls upon a large orange light leak from the top left corner to convey the ideas of a hot summer day. You can almost hear the sounds of the ocean when this warm glaze washes over your photo accentuating the heat. Around the edges are two layered vignettes, a forced black vignette and an overlay vignette which I discussed earlier. The two combine to create a dramatic darkening around the border of the photo, greatly bringing out the subject matter in the center.

The last important concept to touch on with these toy camera filters are the use of shapes or as we call them, gaussian flares. They’re essentially shapes drawn by mathematical equations. We can manipulate ellipses, lines, stars, any oblong shapes you can imagine, and most relevant to toy cameras, diamonds. In the ‘Scope’ effect you can see long light lines and hazy diamonds at the top left of the image. These are layered shapes that combine to form light leaks in the form of points coming off the edge of the photo and moving towards the center. We’re left with something mesmerizing. ‘Scope’ shows how the subtle use of these concepts can build ideas up into a fully fledged effect.

The toy camera experiment was a lesson in humility. As my conversation with Warren progressed it was obvious how much more there is to learn and explore in the world of lomography. We can apply effects to our photos, stylize them to our hearts content but it takes true talent and knowledge to handle cameras. But that won’t stop us from trying to emulate the beauty of analog photography with our phones. Weather it be the gorgeous warm gradients dipping into the top of ‘Amber’ or the lime glow spreading gently from the corner of ‘Juice’ there’s something for everyone with these toy camera effects.

You can get the Aviary Toy Camera pack on iOS and Android now.

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Aviary iOS SDK: iOS 7 Timeline

A quick message for devs building apps for iOS 7.

The Aviary iOS team is this close to finalizing our iOS 7-compatible SDK! Here’s a quick timeline for your reference as you plan your app’s transition to the new OS.

The Now:

We’ve distributed a beta version of our iOS 7-compatible SDK to all of our existing partners. (if you don’t have yours – send us an email). This version of the SDK will compile properly for iOS 7. The UI design is identical to our current, iOS 6 SDK. Important: You should NOT submit with this build, as it is will not be approved by Apple.

The next couple of weeks:

We’ll be sending out a releasable version of the iOS 7-compatible SDK which you can swap into your integration and submit to the App Store whenever you’re ready. We are working around the clock to get this to you as quickly as possible, but our priority is making sure that you have a perfectly stable build for your updated app – so this may mean a few extra days of testing and tweaking (especially as the iOS7 GM is not yet available). We’ll also be providing guidelines that help you use our Desktop Customizer App to create an iOS-7 like “flat design” at this time.

The next month:

Partners who have indicated an interest in an early build will receive a beta of our shiny new iOS 7-optimized SDK. We’re not quite ready to share the new designs with the world (some of which will be informed and optimized by user behavior we observe once iOS7 itself released). But keep an eye on this blog and we’ll keep you posted on our progress.

If you’re interested in getting on the beta list, get in touch and we’ll be happy to review your app and let you know if you qualify for early access.

The Fall (tentatively October)

The final release date for our iOS 7-optimized SDK will depend on the kind of feedback we receive from beta partners, and how much tweaking we need to do. That said, we are currently aiming to roll it out to all partners sometime in October. This SDK will have an updated look & feel to fit in right at home with your app as you go “all in” with iOS 7.

As always, don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. We’re so excited about the possibilities of iOS 7 and can’t wait to see what all our amazing partners come up with this year!

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Introducing Saga Pro: Six New Filters Available Now in Aviary

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A brand new filter pack is launching today, featuring six incredible effects by one of our favorite photographer-slash-designers, Garrett Peek.

When it comes to intensifying photography, Saga Pro’s pro-grade filters aren’t demure; from Omen’s strong dose of zombie apocalypse to Harlequin’s romance novel ready softness, each dramatic effect was created to produce your most theatric, beautiful shots ever. Download it for Android and iPhone now, and don’t forget to share your creations with the hashtags #aviary and #sagapro.

Download here: iOS | Android

Aviary_Omen_Filter Aviary_RedVelvet_Filter Aviary_Silverbrite_FilterPhotography Credits: Carol Hagen, Julia Hagen

 

Posted in Aviary, Fun!, Mobile | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

iOS Partner Spotlight: Sincerely Ink

Sincerely’s latest update to their signature personalized greeting card app, Sincerely Ink now includes Aviary’s iOS SDK!

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From birthday cards to thank you cards, congratulations cards, holiday cards, and cards you just want to send because you took an amazing Instagram photo, Sincerely Ink has designs for any occasion.

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They’ve done a great job of customizing the interface to match their app (a free feature of our editor) and have also decided to add both of our Premium Add-ons: High-Resolution output and White-Labeling (removes Aviary branding).

You can learn more about our Premium Add-ons here, or if you’d like to add them to your own app, feel free to give us a shout.

Check out the app and let us know what you think!

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Windows 8 Partner Spotlight: PhotoWeaver

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PhotoWeaver is a powerful tool for managing and sharing photos across a variety of sources, including Facebook, Google+, Skydrive and your local hard drive. PhotoWeaver also includes a slideshow feature which allows you to display beautiful slideshows on any screen in your home.

By embedding Aviary’s Windows 8 SDK, PhotoWeaver has created a powerful, full-service tool for managing and editing your photos across all of your services.

Features

  • View photos from services like Facebook, Google+, SkyDrive and from your local hard drive on your Tablet, laptop or desktop.
  • Upload multiple photos simultaneously with a single button click to services such as Facebook, Google+ or SkyDrive.
  • Advanced editing functionality like effects, enhancements, stickers, rotate, crop etc.
  • Share photos with friends and family without leaving the app, using Share charm.
  • Browse through your photos as thumbnails, or in a full screen slideshow.
  • View and Manage comments from multiple social networks, all from one app
  • Use the Devices charm to view photos on a TV with Xbox or other Windows certified Play To Device.

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Download Photo Weaver from the Windows Store now.

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Also keep an eye out for the Android version, coming soon.

Posted in Aviary, Windows 8 | 1 Comment

Introducing Archetype: Six New Filters Available Now in Aviary App

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A fresh filter pack (the third in our series of artist collabs) is launching today, brilliantly masterminded by photographer and designer Ilitch Peters.

Taking a cue from Ilitch’s moody, linear aesthetic, the Archetype filters will boost the depth and intensity in your landscape and subject photography, helping to highlight points of focus and subtly boost vibrancy. Download them now, and don’t forget to share your creations with Ilitch using the hashtag #aviary!

iOS | Android

Archetype_Upside_AviaryPhotographer: Ilitch Peters  |  Filter: Upside

Archetype_Hush_AviaryPhotographer: Ilitch Peters  |  Filter: Hush

Archetype_Terminal_AviaryPhotographer: Ilitch Peters |  Filter: Terminal

 

Posted in Android, Fun!, iOS, Mobile | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Introducing Doodles & Pet Dress Up – Our Newest Sticker Packs!

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Say hello to two new sticker packs for Android and iOS – Doodles and Pet Outfits.

Perfect for blogging, scrapbooking and capturing fun summer moments with your pals, Doodles brings sweet scribbles to your everyday photography.

For people who like dressing their kittens as bandits and dogs as debonair dandies, Pet Outfits is your dream come true. All of the cuteness, none of the clawed trauma of actually stuffing your cat into a frog uniform. Hoorah!

Check them out!

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Introducing Wanderlust: Six New Filters Available Now in Aviary App

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A new filter pack – the second in our series of artist collabs – is launching today, this time crafted by one of Instagram’s most loved photographers for capturing the spirit of adventure, Sara Milton.

Inspired by Sara’s constant jetsetting between the east and west coasts, these filters were designed with far-flung destinations in mind, and were optimized for sand, sky and the never-ending highway. Download them now, and don’t forget to share your creations with Sara using the hashtag #aviary!

iOS | Android

Sedona

Filter: Sedona  |  Photographer: Sara Milton

Rio Grande

Filter: Rio Grande  |  Photographer: Sara Milton

Durango

Filter: Durango  |  Photographer: Sara Milton

 

Posted in Android, Aviary, iOS, Mobile | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

iOS Partner Spotlight: SnapShots

Featured by Apple as one of the top photo apps, SnapShots allows you to share and access photos & videos with multiple users at any event – instantly and conveniently.

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Simply create an event, choose who you want to invite & interact with, and seamlessly crowd source them straight to your phone. With their latest integration of Aviary’s iOS SDK, users can now add a unique and personal touch to every event with multiple photo editing tools, including our popular filters and effects.

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Download SnapShots for free now! 

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Posted in Aviary, iOS, Mobile, Partners | 1 Comment